Lullaby and Good Nnght

Roman a clef based on the life and circumstances surrounding the murder of one Vivian Gordon, a beautiful redheaded high-end call girl and later madam whose consorted with gangsters, politicos and myriad other high profile power players. She was the very embodiment of 'live fast, die young and leave a beautiful corpse'. The character based on her, Emily Stanton, is portayed here as a Pollyanna who becomes a prostitute when in reality Gordon became a hardened, jaded lady due to her experiences and was known to threaten blackmail and shakedown her clientele. I think had the authors been true to what real Gordon became the novel would rate 5 stars. As it it the Stanton character is the sappy 'hooker with a heart of gold' looking for justice, not revenge. However the novel is rich and authentic in detail and really evokes the life and times of that era. Good, but just not quite as good as it could have been with the authors' desire to 'Hollywood-ize' the main character and ending.

Vincent Bugliosi may seem out of his normal element in writing fiction with successful ventures in true crime such as "Helter Skelter" and "And the Sea Will Tell". Yet with the historical backdrop of "Lullaby and Good Night", Bugliosi paints an unlikley story that seems all too real. Even though the book may be somewhat predictable, the book was tough to put down with its fast-paced, masterful storytelling. Emily Stanton would seem to be an early model for the women's movement when she left her wealthy husband to attempt a life on her own. But her former husband and his Tammany Hall ties not only take away Emily's free life but her daughter as well. This initiates Emily's odyssey through the New York underworld. Yet as person goes so far down, they only have room to go upward. Emily's only goal is to regain custody of her daughter. As she collects necessary ammunition to regain her daughter, she encounters unexpected setbacks that make her goal seem out of reach. The reader may have a feeling that Emily will succeed, but the precise details are elusive. Like the other Bugliosi books that I have read, I give this book high recommendations. Not only is the plot well thought out, but the historical context of the book reflects great research into the 1920's.

Vince goes outside of his usual style as he is telling about the trials the women went through in the early part of the century. I, particularly, was interested in it as I was once engaged to Vince and the person he is writing about has my name. It was so good, I read it three times. All of his novels are so good, you just don't want to put them down. Ususally based on case histories; however, this was not - still a mystery and wonderful!!